Highway Hotline urges caution as Sask. faces widespread blizzard conditions
An Alberta Clipper is taking over the highways of Saskatchewan, with warnings against travel creeping across the southwest and into the central part of the province.
Up to 25 centimeters of snow is expected in locations all across the province. The snow is accompanied by strong winds reaching up to 100 km/h, and even freezing rain.
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Highway Hotline showed stretches of highway not recommended for travel all the way from the Alberta border to the middle of the province. As of 8:30 a.m., a large Section of the Trans-Canada Highway between Swift Current and Caronport is completely closed.
As of 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, much of the province is under a travel not recommended warning, and a section of the Trans-Canada Highway is closed. (Highway Hotline)
David Horth with the Ministry of Highways runs Highway Hotline, the primary source for road conditions in the province.
I would expect that you would continue to see the travel not recommended to move across the province,” said Horth. “That's the path that we've been told that this storm is going to take. Environment Canada is modeling is pretty reliable. This one looks like it's definitely going to happen.”
The storm isn’t expected to taper off until later this afternoon and into the evening, causing particularly unsafe driving conditions until it begins calming from west to east.
“If you happen to have a weather bingo card, you're probably going to be able to fill that weather bingo card today because we've got a mixed bag,” said Horth. “We've got rain, we've got snow, we've got wind, we've got ice. It's a good day to maybe rethink travel plans if you possibly can.”
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An orange weather alert is in place for all of southern Saskatchewan, with yellow warnings for freezing rain or high winds scattered around the province.
A highway camera caught the road conditions between Swift Current and Chaplin early Wednesday before the main storm. (Highway Hotline)
Horth says that he wants people to drive according to the conditions, not the speed limit set for clear, dry driving. He suggests if travel is absolutely necessary, people should keep a shovel, a blanket and a candle in their vehicles.
“We've got 300 pieces of equipment that can be dispatched at a moment's notice,” Horth said, noting the plow tracking feature on Highway Hotline. “You can see that our people are out there, they're reporting what they're seeing back. It's constantly being refreshed, so we're giving you the best real time information that we have. And we've got dozens of sets of eyes that are out there, both treating the road and reporting the conditions.”
This article, written by Alex Kozroski, was originally published for CBC News.